Trump claims Democrats are killing babies
Former President Donald Trump made some serious claims during a video statement recently posted to his Truth Social platform.
“(Democrats) support abortion up to and even beyond the ninth month,” Trump said in the April 8 clip. “The concept of having an abortion in the later months, and even execution after birth. And that's exactly what it is. The baby is born, the baby is executed after birth is unacceptable, and almost everyone agrees with that.”
But this is false, according to PolitiFact. Intentionally ending the life of a newborn is illegal in all 50 states. Two federal laws, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 and the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002, are aimed at protecting infants.
Lois Shepard, University of Virginia professor and author of books on end-of-life care, told PolitiFact this isn’t happening.
“Abortion providers do not do this, doctors do not do this, no politicians that I know of support this — it's a made-up issue,” Shepard said.
Abortions during the third trimester are very rare and are typically due to severe fetal anomalies or a risk to the mother’s health, PolitiFact said. And those procedures don’t involve killing infants after birth.
Eclipse really happened
Prior to the eclipse this past week, people were scrambling to make sure they had the proper glasses to view the historic event. In a Facebook post, shared more than 1,000 times in two days, a user claims it doesn’t really matter if you got the correct eyewear.
“Did you buy solar-eclipse glasses for tomorrow’s solar eclipse?” a woman in an April 7 video asks while pointing at a photo of a man in eclipse glasses. “Because apparently there's a bunch of fake solar eclipse glasses. So if you bought one of these fake solar eclipse glasses — it's alright because the solar eclipse is fake.”
But this claim is “nonsense,” according to USA Today. There is plenty of evidence the eclipse occurred, including photos, videos and millions of witnesses.
The eclipse, which had a path of totality through 13 U.S. states, was livestreamed by NASA and multiple news outlets. NASA scientists were able to predict the movement of the eclipse down to a fraction of a second using computer programs and data about planetary movements.
NASA reports the next total solar eclipse to pass over the U.S. will occur on Aug. 23, 2044.
Earthquake didn’t start at Trump’s golf course
A 4.8-magnitude earthquake on April 5 in northern New Jersey produced shakes that could be felt from Maine to Virginia.
A social media post from later that day claimed the geological event was centered on former President Donald Trump’s property.
“UPDATE: Epicenter of 4.8 Earthquake in NYC area 10:23am was TRUMP'S BEDMINSTER NJ RESORT. Seriously!” a Facebook post reads.
On the April 8 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” host Jimmy Kimmel repeated the same claim.
“The epicenter of the earthquake in New Jersey… was literally on Donald Trump’s golf course. That is not a joke,” Kimmel said.
But apparently that is a joke. According to USA Today, the epicenter of the April 8 earthquake was more than three miles northwest of Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.
University of Michigan geology professor Ben van der Pluijm told USA Today the hypocenter, the spot under the Earth’s surface where an earthquake originates, was only at a depth of 2.9 miles.
“It does have unusually shallow depth — hypocenter/focus. Hence, it was widely felt. But its surface location — epicenter — is not the Trump-Bedminster golf course,” van der Pluijm said.
Swift not banned from Super Bowl
In February, singer Taylor Swift attended the Super Bowl game in Las Vegas, Nevada, to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers.
But a recent social media post makes it appear that won’t happen again.
“Breaking: NFL Bans Taylor Swift From Super Bowl, “She’s Too Distracting” FULL DETAILS BELOW,” reads the type on an April 10 Facebook post that features an article with that same headline.
But Swift is not banned from the big game, according to Reuters. NFL communications director Tim Schlittner told Reuters the report was “not true.”
The article was actually published by the satirical website Esspots.com, which describes itself as a “one-stop destination for satirical news and commentary about the United States of America.”
Some of the users who left comments didn’t appear to know it was a joke, and they seemed concerned.
“I would love to see the economic losses from such a move…,” one user wrote. And “I'm glad I'm not an American how ungrateful that country is to one of the world's best entertainers have ever produced,” another user said.
• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.